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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Are you planning to try out Airbnb? Invite you to sign up with this link to get free credits of 25 US Dollars or 17 GBP or equivalent in your home currency (eg in India this would be almost 1600 Rupees). This credit can be used in your first booking for an Airbnb hosted home. If you are looking to rent out your own home or place you will get $75 USD or 51 GBP as credit. That's a sweet deal for signing up using this link

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Have been reading firstpost’s account of the latest sting on
Arvind Kejriwal with some amusement and some frustration. Here are my thoughts

a)I am amused because of the following:

FP thinks the colourful language used by
Arvind is okay for run of the mill politicians the kinds that he despises (or
in other FP would have you believe pretends that he despises) and by using this
language when he is angry shows his class and true colors. According to FP this
language is unbecoming of an intellectual like AK and IITian, IRS officer and
anti-corruption crusader and is almost Virat Kohliesque (FP should be more
careful here in what they are implying, as in another article which they get an
easy target in terms of Times Now and the #shameontimesnow episode…) .

a.In my view AK never pretended to be an
intellectual

b.He will tell you that he is only an aam aadmi

c.He is an aam aadmi with a singular mission ( at
least above all, to wipe out corruption from Indian politics and will take no
prisoners in his fight against the same)

d.In fact, the writer appears to be following some
Victorian way of life where he has never been in touch with the aam aadmi,
IITians much less IRS officers. I have seen a few from close quarters. As great
as there are their language when frustrated can be quite colourful that too in
East Man Color.

e.He invokes Gandhi as an ideal for use of
language, Tough to argue with that. But I could have said 2+2 = 4 and it would
have been tough to argue with that too.

f.If anything the language only shows his
frustrations with the two people in question and makes him sound like a common
man. Much like the rest of us not pretending to be any different

b)I am also a little frustrated, which made me
write this ( and I don’t claim to be great at writing)

I am a regular reader of FP. But I am
frustrated that every now and then editorial slack allows them to put forward
arguments that will stretch any logic beyond logic. Remotest of links and (even
alliterations J)
are used to sensationalize matters. Any person can see through this creative
license that writers use to twist facts just to make a point. FP is guilt of
the same type of bad journalism that they have pointed out (opportunistically
at their rival channel Times Now) and saying that cricket fans have matured.

#JustThinkingAloud FP may soon realize that
it is not just the cricket fans but their aam aadmi reader who has also matured
and FP may soon need to be glued to their twitter stream as well

Friday, March 27, 2015

Organizations need alignment and singularity of purpose to
succeed. This does not mean that there no room for dissent and difference in opinions. On the contrary,
organizations need dissent and debate. But there is a time and place for that.
Successful organizations need to put dissent behind them when it’s time to
execute and importantly the difference in views should stay hidden from the
external view to inspire confidence in its customers and shareholders, and they know what to expect from the
organization at all time. Sure, organizations can change their focus or
direction, but at any given point of time the messaging needs to be coherent.

Equally important to this alignment on goals and objectives is to
have coordination between its all units and departments. Anything that hinders
proper coordination to achieve common goals impacts strategy execution, thus leading to frustration, escalation
and/or duplication of effort and general failure to meet objectives leading to
missed commitments to customers.

If AAP were a company, would we not be okay with the company
censuring YY and PB and projecting the CEO i.e. AK is the know all leader.

What is wrong if the AAP, the political party does the same.
After all, are we more worried about upholding idealism or its ability to put an
end to corruption and transparent governance and driving growth for the
country. Why is the aam aadmi worried if
the company in which they are all shareholders and also customer ‘appears to have a single supreme CEO’?

Monday, March 23, 2015

Ecommerce digital industry is right now a land grab operation, in coercing users to their online platforms or marketplaces to buy goods and services. While the idea is to get users hooked on to the convenience of transacting online but many are selling these goods and services below cost, think Amazon in India (even if it is a few items and limited inventory during mega sales) or even Ola losing money on each ride.

Would this not be considered anti competitive and unethical if regular firms were doing this to each other in mature markets. This is impacting ability of brick and mortar companies, that have made huge investments already, to compete on a level playing field.

While, tech companies passing on efficiencies due to better use of technology is fine but this 'land grab' operation funded by money from private equity funds is being unfair to the traditional players.

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Ordered Organic food today from www.OrganicExpressIndia.com. Delivers Organic Food all over Gurgaon. Food is cooked with Organic Veggies and Free Range Chicken. Delivered in 35 minutes and came in neat packaging. A friend had recommended their chicken falafel wrap and chicken biryani. Was delicious.

The website is cool and easy to use. Was surprised (and happy) to see the large range on their menu. The menu includes multiple vegan options as well (not that I am vegan).

Thursday, January 01, 2015

Has UBER re-launched operations in Delhi / NCR? It may have. One can book an UBER cab just now.

At the moment just 1 cab was available (UBER X) in Gurgaon. see image on the right which shows a car available just now near HUDA city centre even as economic times reported that delhi government has decided to continue ban on UBER

There is no official update from UBER and this may just be testing its operations under new guidelines or may be a limited re-launch.

While government has taken uber to task and dumped blame on them, those in power and every citizen of India not just Delhi, should read the statement made by the brave girl today "This city has failed me"

Sunday, November 30, 2014

If you are in Surat, UBER is giving away free rides to you. All you need to do is sign up for uber , or download the uber app from the play store and enter the promo code 'uberequity' in the app. This gives you UBER credits to be used anytime.

If you are in Kochi, UBER is giving away free rides. All you need to do is sign up for uber here, or download the uber app from the play store and enter the promo code 'uberequity' in the app. This gives you UBER credits to be used anytime. After this get additional two free rides for Rs 300 each by entering the promo code ‘UberKochiLaunch’ in the app. Total free credits of Rs 900.

Go to your office or arrive at the beach in style if you are in Kochi, the Queen of the Arabian Sea, commercial capital of God’s Own Country

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Android kids may be swooning over lollipop (android version 5.0), however, I fail to see what the whole fuss is about. My phone recently upgraded itself from 4.4 to 5.0 (its a google nexus 5) and I have failed to see how it changes my life except that, and predictably, it is now slower than before, albeit by a small amount not to cause any alarms. Sure there are a few tweaks but by and large could have lived without it as well.

Which made me seek out what others are saying. Just read the top 10 features that Lollipop has that Kit Kat did not here. If this is really it then its a big {Yawn...}

Update: People are reporting that phones have actually become slower. Also not only is the picture Gallery missing, the camera app hangs occasionally as well

The only worthwhile improvement has been that incoming phone calls don't take over the entire screen and can be dismissed while continuing to play games instead of everything else being stopped. As sign that phone is increasingly becoming a convergence device and not simply a smart phone with additional features.

2. Link your Paytm (new or existing) wallet to your account a recharge it by

Wednesday, November 19 (11:59 PM)

to get a FREE ride (up to Rs 800)!*

PS: Even existing users can get Rs 500 more by just linking Paytm account

* You would get Rs. 300 up front . Rs 500 will be automatically applied to your account 24 hours after you add a wallet. To claim Rs 800. you must ride bySunday, November 23rd. else you only get Rs 300.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Internal resistance to new ideas is a function of number of employees raised to the power of management levels. Quickest way for many organizations thus would be to collapse /simplify their hierarchical reporting structures

Monday, October 06, 2014

NIIT, today, announced the appointment of Rahul Patwardhan as its next CEO. Rahul would take over from Vijay Thadani as CEO from April 1, 2015.

Rahul Patwardhan has earlier worked with NIIT for close to 20 years, and headed the software business for NIIT Technologies in Europe and APAC in his last assignment in 2004 when he left NIIT to head Logica's India Offshore unit as CEO. At Logica he became the MD of Global App Services leading a revenue line of over $1.5 billion.

This appointment is part of succession planning for the founders of NIIT. Vijay Thadani would be elevated to the role of Vice Chairman and Managing Director. P Rajendran, who was the Chief Operating officer of NIIT would become the joint Managing Director.

His global experience would help NIIT which has been seeing rapid growth in its Managed Training Services business (Training Outsourcing) where it is among the leading companies in the world.

Monday, September 08, 2014

UBER is now present in over 200 cities. The cab company which was in the news recently for raising money at valuation of $19 billion continues to offer new users free rides for signing up. The list of cities where you can hail an UBER ride is given below. List of cities where UBER operates is given below. f you are in any of these cities, click here to avail free rides and UBER Credits up to $20

Thursday, August 21, 2014

UBER has launched its services in Kolkata. The luxury car service which was already
present in 6 cities in India, has taken this to 10, with launches
in Chandigarh, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. UBER offers its services in over
160 cities globally.

UBER offers promotional discounts to encourage
users to try out the luxury car service You can get free credit from UBER by
signing through the following link https://get.uber.com/invite/uberequity
or signup here with the
promo code UBEREQUITY and be amongst the first few to take the ride on cars like
Mercedes, Audi, BMW etc and impress your friends and family

UBER has arrived in Chandigarh. The luxury car service which was already present in 6 cities in India has launched in four more cities with quadruple launch in Chandigarh, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. UBER offers its services in over 160 cities globally.

UBER is offering promotional discounts to encourage users to try out the luxury car service You can get free credit from UBER by signing through the following link https://get.uber.com/invite/uberequity and be amongst the first few to take the ride on cars like Mercedes, Audi, BMW etc and impress your friends and family.

Or; take a cruise of the Geri-route in a chauffer driven - S Class Mercedes. Sign up now by signing up here with the promo code UBEREQUITY

Saturday, July 19, 2014

UBER recently served ice cream in their cabs. On July 18 one could call an UBER ride and enjoy free ice cream in 144 cities, in 38 countries over 6 continents. UBER served haagen-dazs ice creams in India. Did you get one

In case you missed the ice cream, you can still get a free ride on a luxury car with UBER. Just sign in with the UBER promo code UBER Equity and take your next journey in style.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

UBER is giving you a tour of your city. So what is the big deal you may ask. Well the tour is on a chopper. Yes you read it right 'CHOPPER' . If you are in Bangalore/Mumbai you can chose UBER Chopper to take a scenic tour of the city in a helicopter.

Press the black bar that reads “Request CHOPPER“. We’ll give you a call for final confirmation.

A swanky ride will pick you up and transport you to the helipad.

You will be flown around the city’s iconic buildings and locations. You will then be taken back to the helipad, and your car will drop you off to the High Ultra Lounge, for a brunch on the tallest building in the city.

Demand will be off the skies and availability will be limited. So you may have to try a few times before you can get a ride.

Friday, June 20, 2014

UBER cabs have arrived in Pune. This takes the total no of cities covered in India to 6. Uber had already launched services in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Overall Uber cabs are available in over 100 cities worldwide.

Uber had recently raised fresh funds at pre money valuation of 17 billion dollars. Uber continues to offer free rides to new users. To get your free ride, enter the following code while signing up: uberequity

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Disclaimer
This blog is meant for personal consumption. All characters appearing in this blog are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintentional.
Any discussion of stock/companies are personal views and not recommendations for sale